Thread: First straight razor, Ralf Aust or Revisor

I agree with Utopian's statement also, I'm not criticizing Revisor in order to hurt their sales. I've purchased many new razors directly from the manufacture. I do not expect a 'Shave Ready Edge' from any of them. The horn scales on my 8/8's Revisor are stunningly beautiful. The workmanship is superb. I plan to purchase more Revisor S.R. In the future. If their edges don't suit me I'll redo them, smile and be a happy shaver.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Tom: So I have been honing quite a few razors now and have my system down but I want to get a smoother edge what should I do.

SRP: Well Tom what are you using now and how are you using them

Tom: Well I set my bevels on a 1k grit Platen grinder and I just slightly lift the edge so I don't damage the beautiful spine work on the razors, then I move to either a Coticule with slurry or my Grey Hone to finish.. Then strop on a bench strop.. I like to keep things simple

SRP: Well I have heard on some people doing it that way, but you have to understand that you are actually setting a "Pre-Bevel" then moving almost straight to finishing.. How often do you dress the Platen stone ?
Also you do understand that you are essentially "Back Honing" this pre-bevel which creates a near serrated condition on the edge that is going to have to be removed.. Standard push strokes using an X pattern on a 1k Hone or using heavy slurry with your Coticule can achieve this.. But you will need to get to a nice EVEN smooth bevel set point before you are going to get a really smooth edge..
You are actually making this harder because you have introduced two separate angles from lifting the spine, that is actually going to need to be honed out anyway or the very edge of the razors will be rather rough...

Tom: Well my razors are sharp enough to shave, and many people like them.

SRP: Sharp and Smooth are actually two aspects of honing a SR they are interconnected as a Smooth edge does have to be Sharp.. But are separate because a Sharp edge might not be Smooth again think about a Serrated knife edge "Very sharp but you wouldn't want to shave with it"..
That ragged edge you are creating by back-honing the pre-bevel on a Platen and using a higher angle doing it has to be gently honed out and evened up.. You are going to be hard pressed to do that by simply using some slurry on a Coticule and calling it good.. What angle are you using when on the Coticule ??

Tom: This is way to complicated you guys are crazy I don't have time to do all that



And so it goes

Gee, Glen......I wish you would not post our personal conversations!
Regards,
Tom

Originally Posted by RobinK

I don't think anyone is arguing that the edge in the video has a lot of potential. So why make that an issue? And who knows, maybe it did come from the "factory" like that.

Connoisseur sharpness is nothing more than an additional level of sharpness not required for shaving but appreciated by a fraction of users. For the chuckles, I let a beginner try stropping a few blades with connoisseur edges (synthetic and natural) . He brought them back to "dull but shaves" within a few strokes.

I cannot, and will not, speak for Thomas. Personally, however, I find your disposable analogy libellous. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

Perhaps your American counterparts have higher standards? Or maybe we just have thicker hair and skin? I have all new production razors.
They shaved.
Perhaps its our meets where we are also taught how to hone to higher standards.
When you know better you do better.
What I thought was sharp changed.
What WAS passable was not when I was TAUGHT what to look for and FEEL.
Knowledge is Power.
Bratwurst aint Steak and never will be.
Factory will never be Custom.

Well since I can only speak from experience I will. I have recently purchased a new revisor from Thomas and I have to say that it was, by most definitions, shave ready. It delivered a BBS shave in two passes which is a feat that many of my "shave ready" razors from others have failed to do. I have purchased new Dovo razors that were miserably dull with their factory edge. I have received two blades from honemeisters that were shave ready but still fell considerably short of the keeness and smoothness of my Revisor from Thomas. I was so impressed with the edge I actually PM'ed him to ask him what stones he used. Imagine my surprise when I learned it was a coticule and not a 4-5 hone progression. I was equally surprised it wasn't a Guangxi or Thuringen too. (Those that know me will understand that). I intitially bought a Revisor after reading a few posts here about how impressed people were with the edge.

As for customer service, Thomas and his family went out of their way to ensure that everything went smoothly and it did. I would, and will, buy another Revisor from their shop in Germany without hesitation. I appreciate what Thomas and his family bring to this art in that they invested a lot of money and time to keep some new production razors on the market along with employing people with some knowledge that may have otherwise been lost.

Ah yes, these " shave-ready" discussions can often turn into pissing competitions... Citius - Altius - Acutus.

I do not have experience with Revisor, but I did recently purchase a 7/8 Aust. It came directly for Herr Aust and came shave-ready. But alas, the OCD in me still managed to find that the razor needed a tad more. A few licks on the coticule and a good stropping did the trick. To put it simply, if a grade of 10 is where I like my edge to be, I received an 8 and it took very little to bring it up a few notches.

With respect to "connaisseur" edges, I agree with Robin. Let us assume a beginner receives a razor with an edge graded at 10. Like many beginners, there is a good chance his edge maintenance will be lacking. A few stropping mistakes, poor drying, and his grade 10 edge can quickly be a 7 by his next shave.

I have seen the Roo strops in person and yes, paper thin in my book and as a newbie you will more than likely nick it or worse take a slice out and you are toast! I would stick to a nice 3" latigo type and go very slow at first while stropping.......in fact, get someone to show you in person the correct way to do it. It will save a big headache!

As far as the two razors............I have never heard of a Revisor but I have two RA's and for good reason. Lynn here hones them to a so sharp of a condition it is a pleasurable shave and the coupon to get a free re-hone is a plus. Being a newbie you will certainly taken them up on that offer until you either make local contacts of members here that hone to do for you or you invest in stones and do it yourself. I will say that it is impossible to me to have str8's and not learn the art of honing for sure. I watched many videos of Lynn and Glenn here and even my local razor friends like Joe and Richard at local meets do it and explain the process. I have gotten pretty good at maintaining my razors from doing so. Just need to more than likely add a Thuringian stone to the mix and be complete.

Good luck if you have not decided yet............I did not read through all the post, just your original post.

Thanks, everyone. I chose Ralf Aust. Not necessarily because it is better. But the margin of error is probably lower because it is made by one person. Also SRD carries them. Which means I don't have to wait for it to get here from Germany and it is honed already. Not to mention that I prefer the look of RA. The one I chose is model 1692. Snakewood scales, French Point, and sculptured spine. It is a beauty. It was offered only through STD and apparently they only had couple of them because it is now out of stock. The first shave went fine. No problem except some burning; mostly the chin area. I did at least 10 passes for that! For the second one I waited a few days in order for my skin to recover. It went much better. No burning except the chin area. I am slowly but surely learning the proper technique. Few more shaves and no more burning. Since I am a confident, cocky SOB I went ahead with the Kangaroo strop. For its other side I don't like canvas. So I went with wool. Much more expensive but it is worth it. I use it untreated and I think it is superb. I stropped on the roo the other day without any problem. Yes it is very thin. But also it is one of the toughest. It will last many years as long as you do it nice and slow.

I love my Ralf Aust. When I started, my chin was a nice red color for a couple weeks. It now shaves very effortlessly. You will get there shortly. Let your hands and face tell you when you are ready to start something new and do not rush, it will come.

Most of all, enjoy.

Modaresi- I just bought the same one a couple weeks ago. Its a gorgeous razor, especially the scales. I was originally going to get the horn scales version but the snakewood slithered to me in my dreams and bit me so that's what I went with. I noticed that it was sold out shortly after so maybe you and I bought the last two. I'm enjoying it a lot, although I'm still getting used to the full hollow grind. I'm used to shaving with 1/4 hollow like my Hart Steel axe, so its a completely different feel. Kind of like a finely tuned sport car vs a monster truck (not that I've ever driven either one). Congrats on the razor.
Matt

Originally Posted by RobinK

Doesn't answer my questions, though. Revisor are a three man operation, two of them OAPs. Aust is Ralf Aust. Wacker are three people as far as I know. Less then Hart. Who knows how many razors Hart make, but if they make substantially less, there must be something wrong with their production process.

That depends really. I have the impression that Hart makes the entire razor. If the German makers start from blanks, that is a significant amount less work that needs to be done.